Semiconductor devices with graded dopant regions

ABSTRACT

Most semiconductor devices manufactured today, have uniform dopant concentration, either in the lateral or vertical device active (and isolation) regions. By grading the dopant concentration, the performance in various semiconductor devices can be significantly improved. Performance improvements can be obtained in application specific areas like increase in frequency of operation for digital logic, various power MOSFET and IGBT ICs, improvement in refresh time for DRAMs, decrease in programming time for nonvolatile memory, better visual quality including pixel resolution and color sensitivity for imaging ICs, better sensitivity for varactors in tunable filters, higher drive capabilities for JFETs, and a host of other applications.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/371,839, filed Jul. 9, 2021, entitled SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITHGRADED DOPANT REGIONS, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,316,014 on Apr. 26,2022 (Atty. Dkt. No. GRTD60-35314), which is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/947,294, filed Jul. 27, 2020, entitledSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS, which is aContinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/717,950, filed Dec.17, 2019, entitled SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,734,481 on Aug. 4, 2020. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/717,950 is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/590,282, filed May 9, 2017, entitledSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 10,510,842 on Dec. 17, 2019, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/931,636, filed Nov. 3, 2015, entitledSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,647,070 on May 9, 2017, which is Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/515,584, filed Oct. 16, 2014, entitledSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 9,190,502 on Nov. 17, 2015, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/854,319 filed Apr. 1, 2013, entitledSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS, which is aContinuation of Ser. No. 11/622,496, filed Jan. 12, 2007, entitledSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES WITH GRADED DOPANT REGIONS, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 8,421,195 on Apr. 16, 2013, which is a Divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/934,915, filed Sep. 3, 2004. The disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This present invention relates to all semiconductor devices and systems.Particularly it applies to diffused diodes, avalanche diodes, Schottkydevices, power MOS transistors, JFET's, RF bipolar transistors, IGBTs(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors), varactors, digital VLSI, mixedsignal circuits and sensor devices including camera ICs employing CCD(Charge Coupled Device) as well as CMOS technologies.

BACKGROUND

Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) are classified as minority carrierdevices because minority carriers are the principle device conductionmechanism. However, majority carriers also play a small but finite rolein modulating the conductivity in BJTs. Consequently, both carriers(electrons and holes) play a role in the switching performance of BJTs.The maximum frequency of operation in BJTs is limited by the basetransit time as well as the quick recombination of the majority carrierswhen the device is switched off (prior to beginning the next cycle). Thedominant carrier mechanism in BJTs is carrier diffusion. The carrierdrift current component is fairly small, especially in uniformly dopedbase BJTs. Efforts have been made in graded base transistors to createan aiding drift field to enhance the diffusing minority carrier's speedfrom emitter to collector. However, most semiconductor devices,including various power MOSFETs (traditional, DMOS, lateral, verticaland a host of other configurations), IGBT's (Insulated Gated BaseTransistors), still use a uniformly doped ‘drift epitaxial’ region inthe base. FIG. 1 shows the relative doping concentration versus distancein a BJT. FIG. 2 shows the uniformly doped epi region in an IGBT. Incontrast to BJTs, MOS devices are majority carrier devices forconduction. The conduction is channel dominated. The channel can be asurface in one plane in planar devices. The surface can also be on thesidewalls in a vertical device. Other device architectures to combineplanar and vertical conductions are also possible. The maximum frequencyof operation is dictated primarily by source-drain separation distance.Most MOS devices use a uniformly doped substrate (or a well region).When a MOSFET is optimally integrated with a BJT in a monolithicfashion, an IGBT results. The IGBT inherits the advantages of bothMOSFET and BJT. It also brings new challenges because the requiredcharacteristics (electron transit and hole recombination as fast aspossible in n-channel IGBT) necessitate different dopant gradientseither in the same layer at different positions, or at the interfaces ofsimilar or dissimilar layers.

Retrograde wells have been attempted, with little success, to helpimprove soft error immunity in SRAMs and visual quality in imagingcircuits. FIG. 3A shows a typical CMOS VLSI device employing a twin wellsubstrate, on which active devices are subsequently fabricated. FIGS.3B, 3C, and 3D illustrate device cross sections, as practiced today.Retrograde and halo wells have also been attempted to improve refreshtime in DRAMs (dynamic random-access memories), as well as, reducingdark current (background noise) and enhance RGB (Red, Green, Blue) colorresolution in digital camera ICs. Most of these techniques either divertthe minority carriers away from the active regions of critical chargestorage nodes at the surface, or, increase minority carrier densitylocally as the particular application requires.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the relative doping profiles of emitter, base andcollector for the two most popular bipolar junction transistors: namely,uniform base (“A”) and graded base (“B”);

FIG. 2 illustrates the cross section of a commercial IGBT with a uniformepitaxial drift region (base);

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D illustrate cross sections of commonly usedprior art CMOS silicon substrates; FIG. 3A showing a typical prior artIC with two wells (one n⁻well in which p-channel transistors aresubsequently fabricated and one p⁻well in which n-channel transistorsare subsequently fabricated); FIG. 3B showing a prior art EEPROM(Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) memory cellhaving a tunnel insulator; FIG. 3C showing a prior art DRAM memory cell;and FIG. 3D showing a prior art NAND flash memory cell;

FIG. 4 illustrates the cross section of an IGBT, using one embodiment ofthe invention described here, where the dopant is optimally graded inthe epitaxial drift region; and

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C illustrate the cross sections of a CMOS siliconsubstrate with two wells and an underlying layer using embodiments ofthe invention to improve performance in each application—VLSI logic,DRAM/image IC, nonvolatile memory IC.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The relative doping concentrations of emitter and collector regionsvaries from 10¹⁸ to 10²⁰/cm³, whereas the base region is 10¹⁴ to10¹⁶/cm³ depending on the desired characteristics of the BJT. In gradedbase p-n-p transistors, the donor dopant concentration may be 10 to 100×at the emitter-base junction, relative to the base-collector junction(1×). The gradient can be linear, quasi linear, exponential orcomplimentary error function. The relative slope of the donorconcentration throughout the base creates a suitable aiding driftelectric field, to help the holes (p-n-p transistor) transverse fromemitter to collector. Since the aiding drift electric field helps holeconduction, the current gain at a given frequency is enhanced, relativeto a uniformly-doped (base) BJT. The improvement in cut-off frequency(or, frequency at unity gain, f_(T)) can be as large as 2×-5×. Similarperformance improvements are also applicable to n-p-n transistors.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, in one embodiment according to the invention,a donor gradient is established from the emitter-drift epitaxial baseregion junction of the punch-through IGBT, to the drift epitaxial baseregion—n⁺ buffer layer boundary (electrons in this case are acceleratedin their transit from emitter to collector). The “average” baseresistance is optimized so that conductivity modulation and lifetime(for minority carriers) in the base region are not compromised. Bysweeping the carriers towards the n⁺ buffer region a number ofadvantages are obtained. First, the frequency of operation (combinationof t_(on) and t_(off) as is known in the IGBT commercial nomenclature)can be enhanced. Second, and maybe more importantly, during t_(off),holes can be recombined much quicker at the n⁺ buffer layer, compared tothe uniformly doped n⁻ epitaxial drift region by establishing adifferent dopant gradient near the n⁺ buffer layer. It should be notedthat the drift region can also be a non-epitaxial silicon substrate.Although epitaxy enhances lifetime, it is not mandatory. Differentlayers of dopant regions can be transferred through wafer to waferbonding (or other similar transfer mechanisms) for eventual devicefabrication. The “reverse recovery time” for an IGBT is significantlyimproved due to the optimized graded dopant in the so called “driftregion” as well as at the interfaces of the drift region. Graded dopantscan also be implemented in the n⁺ buffer layer as well as other regionsadjacent to the respective layers. Two important performanceenhancements are the result of dopant gradients. For example, in ann-channel IGBT, electrons can be swept from source to drain rapidly,while at the same time holes can be recombined closer to the n⁺ bufferlayer. This can improve t_(on) and t_(off) in the same device.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, donor gradient is also ofbenefit to very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI)—VLSI logic, DRAM,nonvolatile memory like NAND flash. Spurious minority carriers can begenerated by clock switching in digital VLSI logic and memory ICs. Theseunwanted carriers can discharge dynamically-held “actively held high”nodes. In most cases, statically-held nodes (with V_(cc)) cannot beaffected. Degradation of refresh time in DRAMs is one of the results,because the capacitor holds charge dynamically. Similarly, degradationof CMOS digital images in digital imaging ICs is another result of thehavoc caused by minority carriers. Pixel and color resolution can besignificantly enhanced in imaging ICs with the embodiments describedherein. Creating “subterranean” recombination centers underneath thewells (gold doping, platinum doping) as is done in some high-voltagediodes is not practical for VLSI circuits. Hence, a novel technique isdescribed herein which creates a drift field to sweep these unwantedminority carriers from the active circuitry at the surface into thesubstrate in a monolithic die as quickly as possible. In a preferredembodiment, the subterranean n⁻layer has a graded donor concentration tosweep the minority carriers deep into the substrate. One or more of suchlayers can also be implemented through wafer to wafer bonding or similar“transfer” mechanisms. This n⁻layer can be a deeply-implanted layer. Itcan also be an epitaxial layer. As desired, the n⁻well and p⁻wells canalso be graded or retrograded in dopants to sweep those carriers awayfrom the surface as well. The graded dopant can also be implemented insurface channel MOS devices to accelerate majority carriers towards thedrain. To decrease programming time in nonvolatile memory devices,carriers should be accelerated towards the surface when programming ofmemory cells is executed. The graded dopant can also be used tofabricate superior Junction Field-Effect transistors where the “channelpinch-off” is controlled by a graded channel instead of a uniformlydoped channel (as practiced in the prior art).

One of ordinary skill and familiarity in the art will recognize that theconcepts taught herein can be customized and tailored to a particularapplication in many advantageous ways. For instance, minority carrierscan be channeled to the surface to aid programming in nonvolatile memorydevices (NOR, NAND, multivalued-cell). Moreover, single-well, andtriple-well CMOS fabrication techniques can also be optimized toincorporate these embodiments individually and collectively. Anymodifications of such embodiments (described here) fall within thespirit and scope of the invention. Hence, they fall within the scope ofthe claims described below.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, these descriptions are not meant to be construed in alimiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, aswell as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent topersons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of theinvention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that theconception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilizedas a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying outthe same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realizedby those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

It is therefore, contemplated that the claims will cover any suchmodifications or embodiments that fall within the true scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic system, the system comprising: atleast one semiconductor device, the at least one semiconductor deviceincluding: a substrate of a first doping type at a first doping levelhaving a surface; a first active region disposed adjacent the surfacewith a second doping type opposite in conductivity to the first dopingtype and within which transistors can be formed; a second active regionseparate from the first active region disposed adjacent to the firstactive region and within which transistors can be formed; transistorsformed in at least one of the first active region or second activeregion; at least a portion of at least one of the first and secondactive regions having at least one graded dopant concentration to aidcarrier movement from the first and second active regions towards anarea of the substrate where there are no active regions; and at leastone well region adjacent to the first or second active region containingat least one graded dopant region, the graded dopant region to aidcarrier movement from the surface towards the area of the substratewhere there are no active regions, wherein at least some of thetransistors form digital logic of the semiconductor device.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the substrate of the at least onesemiconductor device is a p-type substrate.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the substrate of the at least one semiconductor device hasepitaxial silicon on top of a nonepitaxial substrate.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first active region and second active region of theat least one semiconductor device contain digital logic formed by one ofeither p-channel and n-channel devices.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the first active region and second active region of the at leastone semiconductor device contain either p-channel or n-channel devicesin n-wells or p-wells, respectively, and each well has at least onegraded dopant.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first active regionand second active region of the at least one semiconductor device areeach separated by at least one isolation region.
 7. The system of claim1, wherein the graded dopant is fabricated with an ion implantationprocess.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second activeregions of the at least one semiconductor device are formed adjacent thefirst surface of the substrate of the at least one semiconductor device.9. The system of claim 1, wherein dopants of the graded dopantconcentration in the first active region or the second active region ofthe at least one semiconductor device are either p-type or n-type. 10.The system of claim 1, wherein dopants of the graded dopantconcentration in the first active region of the at least onesemiconductor device are both p-type and n-type.
 11. The system of claim1, wherein dopants of the graded dopant concentration in the secondactive region of the at least one semiconductor device are both p-typeand n-type.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein dopants of the gradeddopant region in the well region of the at least one semiconductordevice are both p-type and n-type.
 13. The system of claim 1, whereinthe transistors which can be formed in the first and second activeregions of the at least one semiconductor device are CMOS digital logictransistors requiring at least a source, a drain, a gate and a channel.14. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one semiconductor deviceis a dynamic random access memory (DRAM).
 15. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one semiconductor device is a complementary metaloxide semiconductor (CMOS) with a nonepitaxial substrate.
 16. The systemof claim 1, wherein the at least one semiconductor device is a flashmemory.
 17. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least onesemiconductor device comprises digital logic and capacitors.
 18. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one semiconductor device is acentral processing unit.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein the at leastone semiconductor device is an image sensor.
 20. The system of claim 1,wherein each of the first and second active regions of the at least onesemiconductor device are in the lateral or vertical direction.